MORE . . . IMPORTANT TEACHINGS OF THE DIVINE LITURGY

MORE . . .  IMPORTANT TEACHINGS OF THE DIVINE LITURGY

   “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God the Father and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with all of you”

   If we understood the gifts of God, our praise would be endless and our appreciation boundless for the great gifts we receive each day from God. The Priests blesses us for even more, saying:  “the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. . . . be with you all.”  Grace from God includes all that we need for complete  happiness, salvation and everlasting life.  If we are the poorest of the poor and have Christ, we are the richest of all!  God is love and to love God is to live in Paradise!

The communion or sharing of the Holy Spirit is the gift beyond all gifts for God offers  himself  to us and dwells within us and we dwell within Him. What a great and noble end believing man has as his hope. The heavenly kingdom! The abode of the Saints and Martyrs. The land of the truly living is our expectation.

  “Holy. Holy. Holy. Lord of Sabbaoth, heaven and earth are filled with your glory.  Hosanna in the highest; blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest!”

In this hymn, the King of all receives from the faithful, a royal greeting honoring and glorifying his glory, for he is now going up to Jerusalem,  not to be crowned, but to give himself on the Cross as in His voluntary sacrifice which will redeem all mankind from sin and iniquity.  God the Logos himself, the Son of the Virgin is now entering His passion to free us from our sins and passions.

“And that which is in this cup, the Precious Blood of your Christ.” The Priest them blesses the elements, saying: “Changing them by your Holy Spirit.  So that they may be to those who receive them, for the purification of soul, for the remission of sins, for the communion of the Holy Spirit, for fulfillment of the kingdom of heaven, and for the boldness to approach you neither unto judgment nor unto condemnation.”

All of us who partake of Holy Communion,  must all take heed as to what we are doing and not approach  with our eyes closed and our minds idle. This needs our alert attention!  Partaking of the Body and Blood in Holy Communion.  is not just a tradition or custom but actual partaking of God himself, the Logos incarnate.  The first thing we must ask is, does our speech and behavior conform to what is expected of us?  Do we see the Holy Communion working effectively within us? These are not mere words, but the Priest’s solemn prayer for all of us!  “For our purification,” for the remission of sins,” 

THE LORD”S PRAYER

A accurate translation

In Orthodoxy this prayer is introduced in these words: “And make us worthy O Master, that we may boldly and without condemnation dare to call upon you, the heavenly God, and to say:

“ Our Father who art in the heavens

Hallowed be your name; your kingdom come.

Your will be done,

On earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day, our essential bred;

And forgive us our debts,

As we forgive our debtors.

Lead us not into temptation,

But deliver us from the evil one.”

Our Lord taught us this one exceptional prayer, which is known but not understood by billions of people.

“Our Father who art in heaven”, that is, not because we are His natural sons, but because He eternally is giving birth to His Son and Logos and emitting His Holy Spirit. The Father is the unoriginate of the Trinity, and we are privileged as adopted sons, to dare to call Him “Our Father.”

His name is made holy, when we, His children, become holy and pure children of such a Father, who is above all.  For each of us “thy kingdom come”, means that we have freely agreed to be members of His kingdom and the /King has accepted us as His sons. This causes us to strive to live heavenly lives and truly when we do this God’s “will is being done on earth as it is in heaven.”

The Lord’s prayer does not say “daily bread” but says “give us this day”, then describes the bread with the Greek word epiousion, which means beyond or above essence, referring to what follows after this prayer. For this is our final prayer before Holy Communion of the Body and Blood of Christ, the Bread which is above essence or most essential of all!

  “We have seen the true light. We have received the heavenly Spirit. We have found the true faith, worshiping the undivided Trinity, who has saved us!”

   To be morally blind is not to know Jesus Christ, the light of the world. But in receiving the Body and Blood of Christ, we have also received the purifying and illuminating Spirit from heaven. In this celebration we show ourselves to be the Church, having found the true faith by worshiping the undivided Trinity who has saved us.  The joy of these moments is beyond description for in worshiping the Holy Trinity we have been shown to be worthy sons of the eternal Father.